HM Treasury

Operation of the UK’s Counter-Terrorist Asset Freezing Regime:  1 September 2014 to 31 December 2014

Mr David Gauke: My noble friend the Commercial Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Deighton) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement. Under the Terrorist Asset-Freezing etc. Act 2010 (”TAFA 2010”), the Treasury is required to report to Parliament, quarterly, on its operation of the UK’s asset freezing regime mandated by UN Security Council Resolution 1373.   This is the fifteenth report under the Act and it covers the period from 1 September 2014 to 31 December 2014. This report also covers the UK implementation of the UN Al-Qaida asset freezing regime and the operation of the EU asset freezing regime in the UK under EU Regulation (EC) 2580/2001 which implements UNSCR 1373 against external terrorist threats to the EU. Under the UN Al-Qaida asset freezing regime, the UN has responsibility for designations and the Treasury has responsibility for licensing and compliance with the regime in the UK under the Al-Qaida (Asset-Freezing) Regulations 2011. Under EU Regulation 2580/2001, the EU has responsibility for designations and the Treasury has responsibility for licensing and compliance with the regime in the UK under Part 1 of TAFA 2010.   Annexes A and B to this statement provide a breakdown, by name, of all those designated by the UK and the EU in pursuance of UN Security Council Resolution 1373. The two individuals subject to restricted designations under Section 3 of the Act are denoted by A and B.   The following table sets out the key asset-freezing activity in the UK during the quarter ending 31 December 2014:TAFA 2010EU Reg(EC) 2580/2001Al-Qaida regimeUNSCR 1989Assets frozen (as at 31/12/2014) £50,000 £11,000[1]  £56,000[2] Number of accounts frozen in UK (at 31/12/2014) 45 10 25New accounts frozen (during Q4 2014) 2  0 0Accounts unfrozen(during Q4 2014)600Total number of designations(at 31/12/2014) 32 35[3]  304(i) New designations (during Q4 2014) 1 0 18(ii) Number of designations that were confidential (During Q4 2014) 1 0 0(iii) Delistings (during Q4 2014) 2 0 2(iv) Individuals in custody in UK (at 31/12/2014) 4  0 0(v) Individuals in UK, not in custody (at 31/12/2014) 2 0 3(vi) Individuals overseas(at 31/12/2014) 18 10  230(vii) Groups 8 (0 in UK)  25 (1 in UK) 70 Individuals by Nationality(i) UK Nationals[4] (ii) Non UK Nationals  10 10  n/a  n/a Renewal of designation(during Q4 2014) 11  n/a  n/aGeneral Licences(i) Issued in Q4(ii) Amended(iii) Revoked (i) 0(ii) 0(iii) 0Specific Licences:(i) Issued in Q4 (ii) Amended (iii) Expired (iv) Refused 8 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0   Legal ProceedingsThe damages claim brought by Gulam MASTAFA against a number of government departments including the Treasury, remains stayed. The claim brought by Zana RAHIM continues to progress towards completion. Proceedings were filed on 29 May 2014 at the High Court appealing against the Treasury’s decision to renew MF’s designation. The final hearing is now listed to begin at the end of April 2015.4. An individual previously designated under TAFA 2010 has lodged an appeal against his designation. Proceedings are currently stayed.5. There were no criminal proceedings in respect of breaches of asset freezes made under TAFA 2010.  Annex A: Designated persons under TAFA 2010 by name[5] INDIVIDUALS Hamed ABDOLLAHIBilal Talal ABDULLAHImad Khalil AL-ALAMIAbdelkarim Hussein AL-NASSERIbrahim Salih AL-YACOUBRuhul AMINManssor ARBABSIARUsama HAMDANNur Idiris HASSAN NURNabeel HUSSAINHasan IZZ-AL-DINMohammed KHALEDParviz KHANReyaad KHANMusa Abu MARZOUKKhalid MISHAALKhalid Shaikh MOHAMMEDAseel MUTHANANasser MUTHANAAbdul Reza SHAHLAIAli Gholam SHAKURIQasem SOLEIMANIABENTITIES BASQUE FATHERLAND AND LIBERTY (ETA)EJERCITO DE LIBERACION NACIONAL (ELN)FUERZAS ARMADAS REVOLUCIONARIAS DE COLOMBIA (FARC)HIZBALLAH MILITARY WING, INCLUDING EXTERNAL SECURITY ORGANISATIONHOLY LAND FOUNDATION FOR RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENTPOPULAR FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF PALESTINE - GENERAL COMMAND (PFLP-GC)POPULAR FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF PALESTINE (PFLP)SENDERO LUMINOSO (SL)   Annex B: Persons designated by the EU under Council Regulation (EC)2580/2001[6]   PERSONS Hamed ABDOLLAHI*Abdelkarim Hussein AL-NASSER*Ibrahim Salih AL YACOUB*Manssor ARBABSIAR*Mohammed BOUYERIHasan IZZ-AL-DIN*Khalid Shaikh MOHAMMED*Abdul Reza SHAHLAI*Ali Gholam SHAKURI*Qasem SOLEIMANI* GROUPS AND ENTITIES   ABU NIDAL ORGANISATION (ANO)AL-AQSA E.V.AL-AQSA MARTYRS' BRIGADEAL-TAKFIR AND AL-HIJRABABBAR KHALSACOMMUNIST PARTY OF THE PHILIPPINES, INCLUDING NEW PEOPLE'S ARMY (NPA), PHILIPPINESDEVRIMCI HALK KURTULU PARTISI-CEPHESI — DHKP/C (REVOLUTIONARY PEOPLE’S LIBERATION ARMY/FRONT/PARTY)EJÉRCITO DE LIBERACIÓN NACIONAL (NATIONAL LIBERATION ARMY)*FUERZAS ARMADAS REVOLUCIONARIAS DE COLOMBIA (FARC)*GAMA'A AL-ISLAMIYYA (A.K.A. AL-GAMA'A AL-ISLAMIYYA) (ISLAMIC GROUP — IG)HAMAS, INCLUDING HAMAS-IZZ AL-DIN AL-QASSEMHIZBALLAH MILITARY WING, INCLUDING EXTERNAL SECURITY ORGANISATIONHIZBUL MUJAHIDEEN (HM)HOFSTADGROEPHOLY LAND FOUNDATION FOR RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT*INTERNATIONAL SIKH YOUTH FEDERATION (ISYF)İSLAMI BÜYÜK DOĞU AKINCILAR CEPHESI (IBDA-C) (GREAT ISLAMIC EASTERN WARRIORS FRONT)KHALISTAN ZINDABAD FORCE (KZF)KURDISTAN WORKERS PARTY (PKK) (A.K.A. KONGRA-GEL)LIBERATION TIGERS OF TAMIL EELAM (LTTE)PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD (PIJ)POPULAR FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF PALESTINE — GENERAL COMMAND (PFLP-GC)*POPULAR FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF PALESTINE (PFLP)*SENDERO LUMINOSO (SL) (SHINING PATH)*TEYRBAZEN AZADIYA KURDISTAN (TAK)  [1] This does not duplicate funds frozen under TAFA.[2]This figure reflects the most up-to-date account balances available and includes approximately $64,000 of funds frozen in the UK. This has been converted using exchange rates as of 31/12/2014. Additionally the figures reflect an updating of balances of accounts for certain individuals during the quarter, depleted through licensed activity.[3] This figure is based on ex-designations where the UK freeze forms the prior competent authority decision for the EU freeze.[4] Based on information held by the Treasury, some of these individuals hold dual nationality.[5] For full listing details please refer to https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/current-list-of-designated-persons-terrorism-and-terrorist-financing[6] For full listing details please refer to www.gov.uk* EU listing rests on UK designation under TAFA 2010  


This statement has also been made in the House of Lords: 
HLWS298

Department for Communities and Local Government

Starter Homes

Brandon Lewis: I would like to update hon. Members on the outcome of the Government’s consultation, launched by the Prime Minister in December, seeking views about our proposals for planning reform to support the development of 100,000 new high quality, low cost Starter Homes for young first time buyers.We are determined to ensure young people are not denied what their parents took for granted – the opportunity to buy their own home, settle down and enjoy the security that home ownership brings. Nearly 192,000 households have now been helped by the Government to buy or reserve a home since 2010, through schemes like Help to Buy and the reinvigorated Right to Buy. But we know there are still far too many hardworking young people from all walks of life struggling to gain a foot on the property ladder, so we want to go further and give them access to a new generation of high quality, low cost Starter Homes.Our Starter Home consultation proposed the introduction of a new national exception site planning policy to enable Starter Homes to be built on under-used or unviable commercial or industrial sites not currently identified for housing, on both public and private land; for these Starter Homes to be only sold to young first time buyers at a minimum 20% discount below their open market value; that local planning authorities should not seek section 106 affordable housing and tariff-style contributions on Starter Homes; and they should be exempt from the Community Infrastructure Levy to enable developers to help deliver the discounted sale price.We received over 250 responses to the consultation. There was strong endorsement from prospective first time buyers for the Starter Homes policy. Many local authorities, developers and lenders also endorsed more support for first time buyers, and made helpful comments about how this new planning policy could be implemented. The Government has published its consultation response today, and I will place a copy in the Library of the House. It will also be available online at: www.gov.uk.After careful consideration of these responses, the Government is today making the following change to national planning policy:Local planning authorities should work in a positive and proactive way with landowners and developers to secure a supply of sites suitable for housing for first time buyers. In particular, they should look for opportunities to create high quality, well designed Starter Homes through exception sites on commercial and industrial land that is either under-used or unviable in its current or former use, and which has not currently been identified for housing.Where applications for starter homes come forward on such exception sites, they should be approved unless the local planning authority can demonstrate that there are overriding conflicts with the National Planning Policy Framework that cannot be mitigated.Planning obligations should be attached to permissions for starter homes on Starter Homes exception sites, requiring that the homes are offered for sale at a minimum of 20% below open market price, to young first time buyers who want to own and occupy a home. They should also prevent the re-sale and letting of the properties at open market value for a five year period.In view of their contribution to meeting housing needs, Starter Homes exception sites should not be required to make section 106 affordable housing or tariff style contributions.Exception sites may include a small proportion of market homes, at the planning authority’s discretion, where this is essential to secure the required level of discount for the starter homes on the site.Starter Homes developments are expected to be well designed and of a high quality, contributing to the creation of sustainable places where people want to live, work and put down roots to become part of the local community. A new Design Advisory Panel set up by the Government, involving leading industry experts, is developing an initial set of exemplar designs for Starter Homes which we expect to publish shortly for wider comment. While recognising the need for local flexibility, we would expect these designs over time to become the default approach to design to be considered for Starter Homes developments.This new national planning policy should be taken into account in plan-making and decision-taking, and should be read alongside other policies in the National Planning Policy Framework.We will shortly publish revised planning guidance to assist local planning authorities in implementing this policy change. This guidance will support implementation of the policy, including the definition of under-used or unviable land and young first time buyers.We will also work with developers, lenders, and local authorities on the development of further supporting technical material.In addition to this policy change, the Government will seek to amend the Community Infrastructure Levy regulations in the next Parliament to exempt discounted Starter Home developments from the levy. We will also consider further how the development of more Starter Homes can be encouraged through further planning reforms, including the opportunity to use other forms of land.This Written Ministerial Statement sets out agreed Coalition Government policy to deliver a national Starter Homes scheme and planning policy; it is separate from the announcement by the Prime Minister today setting out further Conservative policy intentions on Starter Homes for the next Parliament.


This statement has also been made in the House of Lords: 
HLWS299